University of Johannesburg's Fantastic Theatre Part 4

Stage Lighting Positions and Work Areas
Theatre technicians get to work in the most interesting nooks and crannies of theatres. This theatre is no exception, however, the physical space requried for a technician to perform his or her work has been considered, and working in this theatre would be a pleasure.

The lighting trees have rear wheels with a cantilevered  post for weights and coiled cables.

Lighting ladders are widely used for high sidelighting positions. A close up view of this image will show you that safety cables are being used to insure the security of the instruments on the ladder.

The lighting pipes have been flown in for a close trim to the set. The setting is for the TV show PROESSTRAAT.

In this image you can see the three basic Front of House (FOH) lighting positions. The curved balcony lighting pipe is somewhat difficult to reach due to the glass railing. Not recommended.

This is a view from the corner of the last FOH position. Notice the ceiling just above the instruments and the acoustical squares across the way on the opposite wall of the theatre.



This apron cove lighting position is reached from the ladder up to the fly gallery. There is a small platform for the technician to stand on while working on the lighting instruments.

Continuing up the ladder to the fly gallery you come to the first level above the stage. Across the way you can see the dimmers and above the dimmers on the left you can see the slatted exhaust panel. Above that you can see the ceiling of the grid with its underhung sheaves.



Here is a close-up of the sheaves taken from the 3rd level or loading platform. The sheaves have easy and safe catwalk access for maintenance and repair.

In the trap room we found the lighting and sound desks. Normally these controls would be located in the booth, but for the TV show, the director wanted control from under the stage. The trap room includes underneath the orchestra pit. There's enough height down here to include a future lift system for the apron.



The University of Johannesburg runs it's theatre lighting system from a GrandMA lighting console.



University of Johannesburg's Fantastic Theatre Part 1

The 436 seat proscenium theatre at the University of Johannesburg's Kingsway Campus theatre also features a recent lighting console upgrade to a GrandMA Ultra-Light. More and more theatres and lighting designers in South Africa are specifying this GrandMA console for their venues.

     South African Theatre constulant, Scenic and Lighting Designer Denis Hutchinson made it possible for me to tour the University of Johannesburg Theatre with his architects and clients for a future project of his. We were looking at architectural elements specific to a venue complex the new project might use.
     As I am involved in my own discussions with architects for the new performing arts center at Oklahoma State University, I found this hands-on examination very successful and very useful.
          The UJ Theatre boasts a full balcony rail for a low FOH position, and two higher FOH positions as well. There is a full height platform at the last position with a removable railing specifically designed to accomodate  the long snout of two followspots.

In this photo you can see one of the followspots pointed down at the stage. The lighting pipe has been removed so as to not interfere with the arc of the followspot nor the light beam. It is a clear straight shot to the stage. The flat balcony floor on which its rests has good head clearance, and room for technicians to safely move around one another.

     The two FOH positions are very electrician - friendly. ( I pretended to adjust the focus and shutters on one conventional to see how easy that would be from the catwalk position) The instruments are on pipes right at your feet or your waist, and there is another lighting pipe available right at your head height.
     The UJ Theatre also has a pipe over the apron for sound equipment, and another pipe over the apron for lighting equipment. Both of these are on winches. The remainder of the fly system is a traditional single-purchase fly system.

Here's the tour group full of clients, architects, consultant and the UJ technician.

  More information about this theatre will be in an upcoming blogpost.